Preview — Atonement
by Ian McEwan

Atonement

Ian McEwan’s symphonic novel of love and war, childhood and class, guilt and forgiveness provides all the satisfaction of a brilliant narrative and the provocation we have come to expect from this master of English prose.

On a hot summer day in 1934, thirteen-year-old Briony Tallis witnesses a moment’s flirtation between her older sister, Cecilia, and Robbie Turner, the sonIan McEwan’s symphonic novel of love and war, childhood and class, guilt and forgiveness provides all the satisfaction of a brilliant narrative and the provocation we have come to expect from this master of English prose.

On a hot summer day in 1934, thirteen-year-old Briony Tallis witnesses a moment’s flirtation between her older sister, Cecilia, and Robbie Turner, the son of a servant and Cecilia’s childhood friend. But Briony’s incomplete grasp of adult motives—together with her precocious literary gifts—brings about a crime that will change all their lives. As it follows that crime’s repercussions through the chaos and carnage of World War II and into the close of the twentieth century, Atonement engages the reader on every conceivable level, with an ease and authority that mark it as a genuine masterpiece....more

Hardcover, 351 pages

Published
March 28th 2003
by Turtleback Books
(first published January 1st 2001)

Popular Answered Questions

Jenny MeridiusA mature 15 year old, yes. Every teen is different, and I don't believe in censoring language, but there is use of the C word in here. That might…moreA mature 15 year old, yes. Every teen is different, and I don't believe in censoring language, but there is use of the C word in here. That might ruffle a few helicopter parental feathers, but 15 is old enough to be choosing one's own literature. (less)

Community Reviews

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.There are many reviews already of this book, and I did wonder whether the world needed any more. But I disagree so strongly with some of the opinions expressed that I'm afraid I have to exercise my right to reply. Two things in particular stand out.

Let me deal with the simpler one first. Some people seem appalled that the author is putting the guilt for this dreadful tragedy on the shoulders of a young girl. She didn't know what she was doing, they say; she was too young to understand the imporThere are many reviews already of this book, and I did wonder whether the world needed any more. But I disagree so strongly with some of the opinions expressed that I'm afraid I have to exercise my right to reply. Two things in particular stand out.

Let me deal with the simpler one first. Some people seem appalled that the author is putting the guilt for this dreadful tragedy on the shoulders of a young girl. She didn't know what she was doing, they say; she was too young to understand the import of her actions, and we shouldn't hold her responsible. Well, it seems to me that this is completely beside the point. The novel, we finally learn, has been written by the girl herself. She's giving herself the blame for what happened. She's evidently spent her whole life wondering why she behaved the way she did, and she still doesn't really know. She's just trying to get the story as straight as she can, mainly so that she can understand it herself, and I found her efforts extremely moving. If anyone is claiming that people don't behave this way, all I can say is that their view of human nature is so different from mine that it'll be hard to have a meaningful conversation on the subject.

So now the second and more controversial part. Many reviewers dislike the post-modernist aspects. They complain that McEwan is taking a perverse pleasure in tricking the reader into a view of the story which is finally revealed as incorrect; that he's playing the unreliable narrator card out of sheer willfulness. Again, I completely disagree. I don't think these aspects of the book are irrelevant or peripheral; I think they're at the very core of it, and are what make it a great piece of literature. McEwan shows us a girl who becomes an author precisely because she wants to expiate the dreadful feelings of guilt she has suffered all her life. He lets her explain how it happened, in what we eventually discover is a book within a book. And the truly awful thing is that she can't do it. She cops out with a fake happy ending, because she still can't face what she did.

I don't think this is a trick; I think he's saying something about the very nature of writing. Many, many writers are like Briony. They write to absolve themselves of their guilt, but in the end they don't say what they want to say. It's too horrible to write down. They skirt around the issues, and end up presenting them in a more favourable light. If they're lucky, they may finally reach an age when they are so far removed from what happened that they can tell the story straight. This is what Briony does in the postscript, and I don't find it far-fetched. To take just one example, the first I happen to think of, look at Marguerite Duras. All her life, she kept thinking about her first love affair, and it coloured most of what she wrote. It was only when she was nearly 70 that she could set it down as L'Amant.

Before the events of the fountain, Briony was indeed just a little girl; all she could write was the amusingly mediocre Arabella. Afterwards, she had something that was worth saying, though it took a long time to figure out how to do that. When she'd completed her task, she was able to get back to the one she was engaged in when she was interrupted: I love the circular structure, which ends with Arabella being staged 60 years late. Of the many infuriating changes in the movie version, I think I was most annoyed by the removal of this key scene.

Wood burns, observes Monty Python's logician, as he gives an example of an incorrect syllogism; therefore, all that burns is wood. Similarly, the fact that much trickery is post-modern does not imply that all post-modernism is trickery. This is a great and heart-felt novel....more

It's like To Kill A Mockingbird. Only, instead of a flawed but relatable protagonist, we have a protagonist vilified beyond all reason. Instead of a persecuted minority, we have a horny young man. And instead of Atticus Finch, we have...Ian McEwan. And never, in the history of literature, has anyone worked quite this hard to invalidate the accusatory gaze of young girls.

The "sinner" here is young Briony. And her sin is pride. We see her exposed to sexist and obscene language, violent sex, and aIt's like To Kill A Mockingbird. Only, instead of a flawed but relatable protagonist, we have a protagonist vilified beyond all reason. Instead of a persecuted minority, we have a horny young man. And instead of Atticus Finch, we have...Ian McEwan. And never, in the history of literature, has anyone worked quite this hard to invalidate the accusatory gaze of young girls.

The "sinner" here is young Briony. And her sin is pride. We see her exposed to sexist and obscene language, violent sex, and a rape --all in one day! And why did she she make such a fuss?

Well, according to McEwan, it's because she's the worst thing in the world: a little girl (with little girl problems) who simply can't understand the "grownup" world. ("Grownup," in this context, refers almost exclusively to the pursuit of id impulses.) Everything the poor girl does is made to seem (somehow) insidious: the way she lines up her toys, the way she plays pretend, the way her own mind controls her own hand. (The power!)

But who are McEwan's martyrs? you query. Where there's heavy handed allegory, there are bound to be martyrs, you say.

Ah! That would be Robbie and Cecilia. You see, Robbie and Cecilia's sin is lust, the one (and only) sin that must always be defended in literature, the sin McEwan is (apparently) most defensive about. Naturally, some of that lust is projected onto the young girl--reverse moralists are so hypocritical!--but it's Robbie and Cecilia who are truly wronged. Indeed, no fictional character has been this wronged by the moral majority since Jude (the Obscure). But even Thomas Hardy had the presence of mind not to shrilly condemn young girls. McEwan undermined his point in overstating it.

In McEwan's universe, the only real sin is being too uptight (or "sheltered"). No counterpoint is offered. Nor is there any real understanding of sexual trauma and its behavioral manifestations. No sexual history is provided the characters, certainly nothing to account for the behavior in evidence! (To Kill a Mockingbird, mentioned earlier, does provide that history.) McEwan's characters are born the day we meet them...and only to serve his argument.

In short, this is a defensive book. It's nothing more than a defensive book. Chance doesn't work this way. Trauma doesn't work this way. Sexuality doesn't work this way. Nothing works this way.

One gets the distinct impression that McEwan has projected his own narcissism and guilt onto one character (the accuser) and his actual misdeeds onto another (the "unjustly" persecuted). Because his aims are self-indulgent, he doesn't accomplish much beyond this smug reversal. It never quite makes for a cohesive whole. (Nearly, though!)

In a foreshadowing of later events, everyone fusses over a cousin who says she has been badly bruised by her two brothers. When the unjustly maligned little boys run away, it's predicted that the little drama queen will somehow find a way to regain the spotlight. She does...in getting raped. We never learn her thoughts or feelings about this incident, and her rapist is given a nebulous presence, at best, in the novel.

Throughout the story, the victim is portrayed as a snob. She's so snobby, in fact, that she marries her rapist...in the name of monogamy. (Yes, Ian, we see what you did there.) Significantly, Cecilia too is portrayed as a snob...until she puts out.

To summarize:Briony is the sort of uppity prig who accuses "good" men like Ian McEwan Robbie of being bad men.As we can clearly see, there are far worse men. See?Oh, the victim? Complicit. Moving on...And Cecilia just needed a good f...

It's a shame, because the prose, itself, is good. The premise had a lot of potential for nuance and ambiguity. But McEwan forgoes any subtlety in his tireless crusade against...little girls. Little girls who tell on men. Little girls whose motives and perceptions simply can't be trusted.

And all to make some asinine declaration about "true" art?

In the end, we find that Briony is, herself, the narrator of this tale and her own literary career allows McEwan to covertly praise his own writing, so reminiscent of Woolf (in his opinion). (Um, no, Ian. Woolf was a good writer.)

Is he serious? Is he trying to be a pompous ass? Was this an Andy Kaufman bit all along?

Oh, also: War is bad. I make that an aside, because the actual causes, ramifications, and atrocities of war are clearly less important to McEwan than his own pen and man meat. But it's war that truly makes a man of you. If only I were a man and could understand the "real" world!...instead of writing fairy stories...playing with my miniatures...and stripping for the neighbor boys all day.

Something tells me McEwan has a long and studied history of reframing. But the fact remains: If it's not cohesive, it's not true.

In World War II England, 13-year-old Briony Tallis misinterprets her older sister’s love affair with their family’s gardener to be something much worse than what it is. Her innocence and partial understanding of the world begins a chain of events that tears the family apart and alters the course of the rest of the girl’s life.

Sounds a little dry, right? Wrong! I guess I forgot to mention that the book was written by Ian McEwan, the king of uncomfortable moments, weird sex stuff, the rotating thiIn World War II England, 13-year-old Briony Tallis misinterprets her older sister’s love affair with their family’s gardener to be something much worse than what it is. Her innocence and partial understanding of the world begins a chain of events that tears the family apart and alters the course of the rest of the girl’s life.

Sounds a little dry, right? Wrong! I guess I forgot to mention that the book was written by Ian McEwan, the king of uncomfortable moments, weird sex stuff, the rotating third-person close perspective, and - I’ll say it! - writing about the human psyche. While I’ve found some of his earlier books to be a little too uncomfortable (or, rather, too uncomfortable without good reason) or a little too sexually deviant (again, in the way that it seemed for shock value than with a reason), this was a freaking great book.

I think the one thing that makes this book so wonderful is McEwan’s eerily accurate understanding of how a 13-year-old girl’s mind works - her understanding of the world and her emotional reaction to it. Briony is trapped between childhood and adulthood. She’s old enough to recognize the dark and startling behind-the-scenes facets of her proper British family’s life, but not old enough to properly analyze or judge them. She’s old enough to impose her will and her ideas on others, but not wise enough to know when to act or when to question herself. It’s a frustrating and fascination (and uncomfortable) time, and he has it down pat.

McEwan also experiments with structure in ways that are truly innovative and new without being gimmicky. Briony is an aspiring writer who grows and develops her style throughout the 60 years that the novel covers, and McEwan’s novel mirrors her literary growth. Part One of the story is extremely traditional (broken into chapters, with a clear rotation of perspectives and a uniform chronology). Parts Two and Three are much more modern - the story, which switches gears to follow the gardener into WWII France and Briony to her experiences as a nurse in London, loses structure and fluidity and uses more modern storytelling techniques. Finally, the last section is utterly contemporary - the story becomes even more abstract, with unreliable narrators and more conceptual writing favored over simple narrative.

And yet these games with structure and story and perspective in no way take your focus from the story and the characters. Instead, they add to the experience of watching the main character grow and develop.

If the book suffers from anything, it might be a little slow in some places and move too fast in others. Since McEwan tends to be very thorough when it comes to interior thought, the story often slows down a bit more than it should so that he can explain how every single person felt about a certain moment in time (although the story spans 60 years, the first 200 pages span a single afternoon and evening). The slow story a necessary evil, though, if we want to keep the detailed character studies in place. And we do. And the action-filled second half of the book, which covers the British retreat from the Germans in 1940 and the over-capacity army hospitals of London, makes up for the sometimes austere and rigorous first half. It just takes a while to get the story rolling....more

JasmineYour review expresses everything that I wanted to say about the book, but could not. Thank you for a great review!
Jul 25, 2013 04:23AM

LisaThx for taking the time to write this. I understand better traditional and modern and contemporary writing, thx to you! Fun to read a review and feelThx for taking the time to write this. I understand better traditional and modern and contemporary writing, thx to you! Fun to read a review and feel it tracking with your own understanding, putting it into words. =)...more
Mar 24, 2014 04:48AM

That I can remember, I've never before disliked the start of a book so thoroughly, and by the end, gone on to think so much of it as a complete work.

The last 2/3 of this novel are as good as contemporary fiction gets. The first 1/3 is like reading a Jane Austen plot trapped in amber.

As the title indicates Atonement is about a future artist's massive effort to redeem herself for ruining the character of a young man when she is a younger girl. There are parts of this novel that are disjointed - orThat I can remember, I've never before disliked the start of a book so thoroughly, and by the end, gone on to think so much of it as a complete work.

The last 2/3 of this novel are as good as contemporary fiction gets. The first 1/3 is like reading a Jane Austen plot trapped in amber.

As the title indicates Atonement is about a future artist's massive effort to redeem herself for ruining the character of a young man when she is a younger girl. There are parts of this novel that are disjointed - or if they aren't they appear so because the opening act moves so slowly that one is barely conscious and later unable to recall that anything much happened at all.

Halfway through this novel, when its greatness starts to happen, a reader almost laments his earlier opinions of it. But whose fault is that? The beginning is such an act of endurance that the later parts make a reader wish that McEwan had moved things more quickly in the beginning - and used those words for more character development in the middle - so the reader could declare this novel, unequivocally, one of the five best novels he's ever read.

McEwan is at the top of the art form throughout, though, whatever a reader opines of the product. He knows what he's doing every step of the way, right down to an allusion to the disjointed narrative methods employed by Virginia Woolf.

The ending is brilliant, unexpected and harsh. But unlike the case of the returning Baxter character in the third act of Saturday, this ending is consistent and at once surprising and inevitable.

After a person has read a few hundred novels, he grasps the art form well enough to know when an author is writing - usually it's when the author's employing some top-heavy descriptive technique that makes the water droplets gathered on a rose petal somehow more important than the protagonist's motives for anything she's done to that point - and it fairly well cries out, "Look at me, my creator is a writer!"

Knowing when an author is writing means knowing that if there's a surprise coming, it's either going to be predicted about 50 pages out or done in such fantastically poor form that its inconsistency mars the rest of the work.

McEwan is fine enough at his craft that the ending is both unanticipated and perfectly consistent. That alone makes this novel excellent....more

AdamThis is a perfect love story if you can allow for a heartbreaking end. The fact that the flawed Briony gives the lovers some fictional happiness as aThis is a perfect love story if you can allow for a heartbreaking end. The fact that the flawed Briony gives the lovers some fictional happiness as a last act of generosity,makes the reader forgive that precocious girl. This is an attempt at a great love story by Ian McEwan and he succeeds....more
Feb 04, 2015 05:15AM

SaleemI hope you are right... Just started the book.... At the beginning it really seems kind of a not so good..
8 hours, 0 min ago

This is where a 2.5 star rating would be ideal. I am extremely ambivalent about this novel--first the pluses: the writing is gorgeous; McEwan has some of the best prose out there. Every line has meat to it, nothing is throwaway, and every visual is so vivid that the reader is transported to a specific time and place. Secondly, (what everyone praises the novel for), the commentary McEwan is making about the novel itself--the fact that it is written, that characters and plots are manipulated by thThis is where a 2.5 star rating would be ideal. I am extremely ambivalent about this novel--first the pluses: the writing is gorgeous; McEwan has some of the best prose out there. Every line has meat to it, nothing is throwaway, and every visual is so vivid that the reader is transported to a specific time and place. Secondly, (what everyone praises the novel for), the commentary McEwan is making about the novel itself--the fact that it is written, that characters and plots are manipulated by the author, and how a real character emerges (eventually) while at the same a written story exists too. This is very difficult to write about without revealing anything about the plot, but as one reads the novel, it becomes clear what McEwan is trying to do. Finally, the references to other literature (including some of the best novels--Clarissa, Lolita--and novelists--Elizabeth Bowen is directly mentioned, Henry Green and Virginia Woolf are obvious influences) is fluid, never forced, and is done to showcase a love of literature. At the same time, there are downsides to McEwan's endeavor--how to write a novel that is commenting on its obvious falsity (its construction as fiction), while at the same time trying to convey reality. This is perhaps an impossible task, and I'm left with the nagging feeling that the novel wants to have its cake and eat it too. The characters and situations are so obviously phony that it becomes distracting in the first part of the story. I was drawn in by the fantastic writing, but then found myself wanting to hurl the novel across the room at some of the ridiculous choices by both the characters and the novelist. Namely: 1) The main plot twist makes little realistic sense. Absolutely zero would fly in a mystery novel let alone real life; 2) The characters in the first part are boring aristocrats who we don't care about (check out a Henry Green novel; except in his novels, the reader continues to laugh at them, there is no attempt at emotional attachment); 3) The 'mystery's' solution is obvious to the reader before the crime even happens; 4) Briony (part 1) is an insufferable narrator (as kid narrators, To Kill a Mockingbird excluded, so often are); 5) The novelist's choice to name a sexually, precocious teenager 'Lola' (too obvious a reference). But these choices are meant to be ridiculous--reality is only supposed to set in in the epilogue. At the same time, I marveled at how real parts 2 (Robbie at war) and 3 (Briony as a nurse--some of the hospital scenes are the best I've ever read) seemed to be. Then the question became for me--if they seemed real because of the way the scenes were written (the gore again in the hospital), but could not have been real because the characters and overall plot of the Tallis family are so fake, isn't that cheating? I haven't reached a conclusion yet, but something is still bugging me about the conception of it. Ultimately I prefer novels that go the opposite route--Paul Auster's Oracle Night for example--that start out real and quickly become fake, or throw out the idea of a realistic, consistent plot entirely (only in the conclusion does David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas come together), rather than the never-ending 'is it real? is it fake?' push-and-pull of Atonement. ...more

GraceI agree with Emily Elizabeth. Through Briony's retrospective storytelling, you can look at the emerging style of literary style of Briony's as an authI agree with Emily Elizabeth. Through Briony's retrospective storytelling, you can look at the emerging style of literary style of Briony's as an author. Although some parts at times may seem too realistic or unrealistic, that is open to interpretation on how much is the imaginative rewriting of the older Briony and how much is accurate recollected memory....more
Apr 25, 2015 10:10AM

Having recently seen and loved the magnificent film adaptation, I decided to reread Atonement, which quite impressed me when it was first published. And guess what? It was an even more rewarding experience the second time around. Knowing what was coming -- knowing the plot twist at the end -- helped me focus on the quality of the writing rather than on the development of the story, and as always, McEwan's prose completely sucked me in. He is, quite simply, one of the most talented authors alive,Having recently seen and loved the magnificent film adaptation, I decided to reread Atonement, which quite impressed me when it was first published. And guess what? It was an even more rewarding experience the second time around. Knowing what was coming -- knowing the plot twist at the end -- helped me focus on the quality of the writing rather than on the development of the story, and as always, McEwan's prose completely sucked me in. He is, quite simply, one of the most talented authors alive, and he uses his gift to great effect here.

I'm not really going to go into the plot here, because the less the first-time reader knows about the book, the better. Suffice it to say that it is about an imaginative thirteen-year-old who witnesses a few things she doesn't understand, draws the wrong conclusions and ends up ruining the lives of two people near and dear to her. The first half of the book deals with the event itself and the hours leading up to it; the second half deals with her attempts to, well, deal with it -- atone for it, so to speak.

As always, McEwan excels at setting the scene. His description of a hot summer afternoon in a 1935 English country house is lush and sumptuous, his evocation of a young soldier's struggle to reach home after the disastrous 1940 battle of Dunkirk is haunting, and his look into the horrors of a war-time London hospital is gruesome in all its detail. Amazingly, McEwan manages to find beauty even in the most horrific scenes, which is one of the things which set him apart as a writer. As usual, though, it's the psychological stuff that is really outstanding. McEwan has a knack for taking his readers deep into his characters' minds, letting them share their most intimate, most uncomfortable thoughts and feelings. Sometimes these thoughts are a little disturbing (those of you who have read his earlier works will know what I mean), but usually they have the effect of completely drawing the reader into the story. The latter is definitely the case in Atonement. By presenting the story from different perspectives and vantage points, McEwan provides the reader with a complete and engrossing view of a life-changing event and its aftermath. All the different perspectives ring true, and together they tell a marvellous tale of perception, loyalty, anger, secrets, lost love, shame, guilt, obsession with the past and -- yes -- atonement. And about writing, for more than anything else, Atonement is about the difference between fiction and reality, the power of the imagination and the human urge to write and rewrite history -- to write destiny and play God.

I've heard quite a few people say that they found the first half of the novel too slow and ponderous, wondering why McEwan felt the need to devote nearly two hundred pages to the events of a single day. Personally, I found that part of the book to be utterly brilliant in its rich, Woolf-like glory. As far as I'm concerned, the atmosphere of the first half is superbly drawn, with each character down to the most minor one being well realised and the tensions and suspense at work almost being made tangible. For me, it is the second half of the book which has problems (albeit minor ones), in that I found the jumps in time and perspective jarring and the (otherwise fascinating) chapter about Robbie's adventures in France somewhat unreal. Of course, there are good reasons for the slightly unreal quality of the Dunkirk chapter (which the film captured just brilliantly), but still, it didn't quite work for me; it felt a bit out of place. Thankfully, though, the rest of the book worked just wonderfully for me. Like other McEwan books, it left me with a haunting question -- 'What if...?'

As for McEwan's impressive insight into the mind of a thirteen-year-old girl, which other reviewers have called scary, I think that has everything to do with Briony's being a writer. She is hardly your average thirteen-year-old (I think even McEwan would have a hard time coming up with one of those!); rather she is a writer (a good one), and that, of course, is something McEwan knows all about. As a fellow writer, I greatly enjoyed seeing the world through Briony's eyes, and hope her author will live to her old age and write as many good books as he has her doing....more

I feel that perhaps I have sabotaged this book somewhat as I read it directly after finishing Love In the Time of Cholera, and perhaps in retrospect should have read a poetry book or some non-fiction in between. Clearly anything I would have read after finishing a Masterpiece would pale in comparison but I decided that the critical raves this book had received and high praise from people around me should be enough to encourage me to see it through to the end.

Here is why I found this book lackingI feel that perhaps I have sabotaged this book somewhat as I read it directly after finishing Love In the Time of Cholera, and perhaps in retrospect should have read a poetry book or some non-fiction in between. Clearly anything I would have read after finishing a Masterpiece would pale in comparison but I decided that the critical raves this book had received and high praise from people around me should be enough to encourage me to see it through to the end.

Here is why I found this book lacking without giving too much actual plot away to those who would want to read it themselves.

I found all of the characters completely devoid of any true personality or any reason I should care or feel connected to them. The details described in the book do a lot for physical surroundings but we know nothing of Cecila except she went to college and chain smokes, so I don't particularly care about anything that happens to her, besides the fact that much of her life is lived outside what information the book provides. Briony is a terrible child, a narcissistic teenager, and and at last a harmless grandmother who I don't especially care about at any of these three points in her life. The only character with the least bit of humanity seems to be Robbie who is still somewhat confined to his role as the "victim". All the lovely descriptions of ponds and hospital wards and French war-torn villages could not make up for the fact that none of these characters were the slightest bit interesting to me or seemed to connect to anything. They simply floated through long locational descriptions being powerless to the world around them and unfortunately for me I didn't need 350 pages to get that point. It could have easily been accomplished as a short story or novella. I just kept feeling that the book had all this great detail but didn't focus it on anything that it shoud have.

I know this may sound exceedingly harsh and once again I do chalk some of this up to reading Atonement directly after a much better novel it had no hope in eclipsing or even paralleling in its structure but I also know how quickly and easily I fall in love with characters. How quickly I can get pulled into a good story and I sincerely feel that although I wouldn't call this book a complete waste, that my time would have been much better spent elsewhere....more

Maria I agree in regards to the lack of character depth and reader attachment to the characters. I felt like every time I was in one of the characters head I agree in regards to the lack of character depth and reader attachment to the characters. I felt like every time I was in one of the characters head I was only allowed to look at the world from their perspective but never really got in their head much less their heart. The deep and vivid description of the physical world around them was great and I can see why so many liked this book for its literary prose, but the character development was not appealing to me....more
Feb 03, 2008 01:48PM

LavadaThis book actually reminded me of Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier, which was another book where I really didn't care what happened.

And, I didn't getThis book actually reminded me of Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier, which was another book where I really didn't care what happened.

And, I didn't get the idea that Briony really wanted to atone for her sin as just not think of herself as a bad person. I didn't like her and it was a bit of a let down to me that her life ended up alright...

And I agree, there was so much of the book wasted on landscape, ponds, nettles, soldiers dying and festering wounds. The time could have been spent in giving us a better picture of Cecilia and Robbie and even Lola.

This book was a bit of disappointment to me, not because of the ending, but because of the lack of development of people you should have cared about because their lives were destroyed....more
Jul 14, 2010 11:47AM

WayneVery interesting to read your critical review, Allison.Especially that you came to this novel after just having read what I would see as a really GREAVery interesting to read your critical review, Allison.Especially that you came to this novel after just having read what I would see as a really GREAT novel, I'm not surprised that this paled in comparison.The ease with which readers call his writing BRILLIANT and hail him as a GREAT WRITER or ONE OF THE BEST WRITING TODAY, makes me wonder what other books they read. The WAR episode I find has little purpose. The third section seems to be more interested in showing off his research skills, and just pads out the novel.I placed it on my shelf: "books-I-have-thrown-across-the-room". His books all conform to a pattern and to me that is a definite indication that he is far from being a writer of any significance.Enjoyed your dissection of the corpse !!!...more
Apr 23, 2013 07:55AM

This book...I hate it! It's beautiful, every word of it is gorgeous, but it's as if the author spends all this time painstakingly crafting a really detailed, intricate vessel for you (I'm thinking of a boat :))and then just before your journey's over he snatches it out from under you & you sink. Why go to such lengths describing the lovers, and the war, and Briony & the nursing when in the end none of it even matters? The**WARNING: Don't read this if you don't want the ending spoiled!**

This book...I hate it! It's beautiful, every word of it is gorgeous, but it's as if the author spends all this time painstakingly crafting a really detailed, intricate vessel for you (I'm thinking of a boat :))and then just before your journey's over he snatches it out from under you & you sink. Why go to such lengths describing the lovers, and the war, and Briony & the nursing when in the end none of it even matters? The problem with Atonement is that there is no atonement, which, of course, is the point. This book was described to me as 'haunting' and it definitely is- haunting & depressing. A story doesn't have to have a happy ending to be good, I mean, this is a great book, really, but I felt really empty & hollow when it was over. The part at the end when the author says that the story is the only part that matters b/c no one will ever remember the real people or the actual events anyway was crushing! It's true, I know, and I don't really have a problem w/ realism...but I have a big problem with death. It freaks me out. I have a really unhealthy fear of it. Especially unjust death. It just pisses me off more than I can explain. Maybe I've just been feeling too poetic lately, listening to too much sensitive-artist music, but I can't stand that Briony kills 2 people and then just conjures them back up from the dead as if it never happened and no one else even mentions it. It makes me think too much about actual events, politics, & things. I don't want to run out of time, I have things I want to do here, and I don't want to be reminded that the truth is it doesn't matter whether I run out of time or not because eventually there isn't going to be anyone left who ever knew me, or my family, or anyone we ever knew. Ugh. I'm making myself sick w/ this. I'm told the movie is really good b/c it's beautiful w/out being quite as harsh at the end. I think I need to see it so I can stop thinking about the book. It's waking me up at night, or rather it's waking me up in the morning realizing that I've been thinking about it all night. I hate it, but it really is good....more

Carolina MoralesWayne wrote: "Hi Angi, I really admired your facing up to your fear of Death.It is pretty overwhelming.The smugness of one of your correspondents whoWayne wrote: "Hi Angi, I really admired your facing up to your fear of Death.It is pretty overwhelming.The smugness of one of your correspondents who just has to sit back and meet Jesus sounds tedious with the ..."

From Chekov I strongly recommend the short tales book The Murder & Other Stories.From Tolstoi, the short novel The Death of Ivan Ilitch.Great readings, friends!...more
Jun 20, 2013 03:16AM

Carolina MoralesCha wrote: "the fact that everyone is so affected makes it a very good book."

No, Cha, it does not. Because we are mostly frustrated by its poor writinCha wrote: "the fact that everyone is so affected makes it a very good book."

No, Cha, it does not. Because we are mostly frustrated by its poor writing and lack of consistent ideas, we are not affected by the characters or the plot itself (that WOULD make it a good novel, whether we happened to like it or not)....more
Jun 20, 2013 03:19AM

Sometimes when I write these reviews, especially when they're of novels with widespread popularity and critical acclaim, I start to feel like a real curmudgeon. Is there anything really wrong with Ian McEwan's “Atonement?” Is it not a compelling story well told? Is the writing not clear, succinct, and free of pretentiousness? Does McEwan not draw the reader into a well-imagined world and hold him there until the last page? The answer to all these questions is yes. Yet still, yet still...

Maybe itSometimes when I write these reviews, especially when they're of novels with widespread popularity and critical acclaim, I start to feel like a real curmudgeon. Is there anything really wrong with Ian McEwan's “Atonement?” Is it not a compelling story well told? Is the writing not clear, succinct, and free of pretentiousness? Does McEwan not draw the reader into a well-imagined world and hold him there until the last page? The answer to all these questions is yes. Yet still, yet still...

Maybe it's all the acclaim that “Atonement” received when first published and the literary prizes it either won or was shortlisted for, or maybe it's the comparison I'm drawing – unfairly, to be sure – with some of the classic novels I've been reading lately, but I just don't see why McEwan's book has been held up as one of the great works of literary fiction of recent years. (Or maybe everything else from the last several years is that much worse?) My chief problem with “Atonement” is it just never feels fully real, like great novels do. I could never picture Briony, Cecilia, Robbie and the book's other characters existing beyond their words and actions on the page. They never become something more than characters in a novel – never become real living, breathing people, as is the case with truly great works of literature. The whole book just feels far too mannered, too neatly composed, too written.

Spoilers to follow here, so skip the next paragraph if you haven't yet read “Atonement” and plan to.

Does this maybe speak, though, to McEwan's genius? After all, in his nod to the art of metafiction, McEwan makes the novel not really his novel at all, but rather one written by his character Briony Tallis, so that all but the last section of the book, which is told first-person by Briony, becomes a novel within the novel. A defender of the book who accepts everything I've said up until this point might rightfully argue that the novel-within-the-novel's weaknesses speak to the who the character of Briony actually is, and to her shortcomings as a novelist. If that were McEwan's intention, it's kind of a brilliant move: a good novelist purposely writing in an average way because the character actually telling the story is herself an average novelist. OK, but even if I accept this argument – and even though I made the argument myself, I'm not sure it holds water – I still don't want to read an entire novel that's simply average, even if it's intended to be.

Spoilers over.

Getting back to my original point, though, why do I feel the urge to demand that every piece of literature – even one well-loved, and with critical regard – need be as brilliant as one by, say, Nabokov? (Though, to be fair, McEwan is asking for this comparison, as Nabokov mastered the metafiction toyed with in “Atonement” back when McEwan was just a wee lad.) Can't some literary novels just be an enjoyable read without achieving a place in the pantheon of great literature? Isn't there, alongside Nabokov and Bellow, a place for writers such as John Irving and Ian McEwan? (And is that too insulting to McEwan? Too flattering to Irving?) And, finally, have I become, as a reader, too much a curmudgeon?...more

JessicaWayne, I like what you say about McEwan. I also came to him first by way of his stories and was so impressed/disturbed. I have read a couple of his noWayne, I like what you say about McEwan. I also came to him first by way of his stories and was so impressed/disturbed. I have read a couple of his novels (including Atonement--vastly overrated, I thought), none of which I loved. I agree that they are so very well written but don't amount to much: Amsterdam, The Innocent (of these, the second is the more memorable). I own Chesil Beach but haven't yet read it. I will. Thanks....more
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Apr 23, 2013 09:18AM

WayneNice to hear from you, Jessica.In Sydney next Tuesday,30 April, Ian McEwan is being interviewed on a 30 minute TV Show, Tuesday Night Book Club, whichNice to hear from you, Jessica.In Sydney next Tuesday,30 April, Ian McEwan is being interviewed on a 30 minute TV Show, Tuesday Night Book Club, which I am looking forward to.Although I know the interviewer will be treating him like a demi-god. Such is fame.!!!Anyway , I'm hoping I will get some understanding from it worth sharing.Will be interested to hear what you think of Chesil Beach, Jess. Happy Reading....more
Apr 25, 2013 05:05AM

There are so many angles and perceptions to consider in this book. Sometimes the end can make a book and that is certainly the case here where the story is left open for interpretation. This is a book that leaves you thinking and considering, making up your own conclusions--and strong enough characters to make you want to.

The first few chapters I did find my mind wandering through lengthy descriptions (I'll call it beautiful, poetic scenery), and yet that scenery set a lackadaisical feel vital tThere are so many angles and perceptions to consider in this book. Sometimes the end can make a book and that is certainly the case here where the story is left open for interpretation. This is a book that leaves you thinking and considering, making up your own conclusions--and strong enough characters to make you want to.

The first few chapters I did find my mind wandering through lengthy descriptions (I'll call it beautiful, poetic scenery), and yet that scenery set a lackadaisical feel vital to the innocence and peace of that opening day. It's not just the easy-going feel of pre-war life McEwan was portraying. On a second read, I find a strain, a desire to understand every motive and action. And in those details I find sadness that life never moved on. It was played over and over again trying to find meaning and purpose to each detail. The slowness is painstaking analysis. There is a reason for the meticulous care with which each detail is described and the read well worth the persistence to the end.

Even from the beginning I was intrigued with the story and found the characters compelling. I just loved Briony's capricious character, her innocent yet eloquently advanced mind. I could despise the nosy little sister and sympathize with the fearful inactive girl all in one breath. I could hate Paul's conceit and Lola's pleas for attention and understand the muteness all the same. But mostly I could sympathize and relate to Robbie and Cecilia as likable characters, wanting to add more time to their brief, interrupted interactions. I found myself ever-fearful for the end and therefore could not put the book down.

Spoilers in my analysis to death.Despite Briony's foreshadowing (saying she would rewrite the fountain scene from all perspectives), I did not suspect the end. I expected the separation but not the invention of this whole story. Because of the story in a story format, you can interpret the few authentic scenes anyway you like and not take her word for any of it. That is what I love about the story, particularly on a second read, that I can question motives assigned to characters instead of take it for face value. At one point reading Robbie's thoughts I considered the layers: Ewan writing Briony writing Robbie and paused in awe at McEwan's talent.

Because of the layers, McEwan has the unique opportunity to add insight and symbolism, even study questions as commentary. Take Briony's comment when relieved to see Robbie at Cecilia's that Robbie's death would have been "outlandish, against all odds" and would have made no sense. Or the letter from the editor telling her the story was incomplete: "how might [her misunderstanding:] affect the lives of the two adults?" And while vivid her descriptions of light and shade she should create "light and shade within the narrative itself." To which you can't help but wonder about light and shade in the story and characters. In what other novel can the author analyze his own work and insert his own cues for study?

I was confused at the drastic abbreviation of Robbie's war tour--though I enjoyed considering the shrapnel as a physical expression of his hidden wound. It was so obvious why the section quit there, but I couldn't believe it ended there; I had to hold out hope however thin the thread. I thought Briony's atonement would come as a nurse on duty, and I held my breath waiting for the improbable meeting. Her interaction with the dying French boy showed how much she wanted that redemption from Robbie by consoling and listening to what cannot be fixed. How she longed for closure with him.

I doubt Robbie hated Briony. In her self-deprecation her interpretation is harsh. I think exasperation at a nosy child whom you adore but all of a sudden can't approach because her vivid imagination has turned to fear is sufficient emotion. I liked Robbie enough to think he could have forgiven her. If anything he was the one who was understanding and forgiving while Cecilia was ready to throw out her family to show her commitment to Robbie. I think Cecilia and Robbie were on the verge of forgiving Briony, but Briony could not allow herself to believe so without diminishing her guilt. She states "neither Briony nor the war had destroyed" their love. Even though she says so about her made-up gift of an ending, can't she see some redemptive power for herself, even in the "bleakest realism"?

I was so confused at the unexpected way the reunion scene between Robbie and Celia. It was so implausible and awkward and I wondered how the story had gotten off course and how Robbie had gotten there from France. His reaction was not anything like I expected, that after everything he had been through, he could still hold that much hate for Briony. And yet that was its intention. On a second read, it's one of my favorite parts as she gives us a glimpse of the verbal rebut she so longed for and some of the best layered meanings. I love how her novel sprouted from a desire to amend, but offered as a response to Robbie's invented request: "She knew what was required of her...a new draft, an atonement."

While Briony should take culprit for the loss of several years, she can't for their entire lives, for the years fate and the war stole away. And she can't even take full credit for those years. It was not her "crime" but her interpretation of one that fueled the problem. She spent her life in remorse, letting her decision shape her life and self worth. I think she more than paid her debt for what was a misunderstanding, a mistake, not cruel revenge. She got caught up in her perception and forced facts to fit her assumptions--ones she full-heartedly believed.

It is Lola unwilling to admit her part in the sexual encounter that should be atoning. Paul with his unrepentant spirit that should atone for another man paying for his crime. And even her mother making the improbable leap from inappropriate love letter to assault to break a servant's son connection with her daughter. Surely, she is just as guilty but seems unwillingly to accept her part in losing relationships with both her daughters. Briony is the only one in this story willing to atone for the tragedy. I didn't find her silence at the wedding cowardice: what good would it have served to ruin yet another couple's happiness? Her appearance was sufficient.

I wish Cecilia were more vocal the night they waited for his return. Sure the social class and unacceptable library behavior restrained her, but I wanted passion as proof of her love. Her silence annoyed and confused me as much as Briony's self-righteous witness angered me. But despite her hesitation that night, considering Cecilia's drastic reaction to her family, I want to believe the relationship must have been long-term, more serious. I'd like to think as her atonement Briony was as hard on herself as possible. I want to think that instead of unrequited love there was secret love undiscovered away from home but unable to pass inquisitive eyes. It doesn't atone, but it makes it less severe.

Briony's initial reaction to the fountain scene was that Robbie was proposing marriage. It could be accurate that Briony happened upon a lover's quarrel: Cecilia wanted to keep the relationship hushed from her parents and when Robbie was too personal in broad daylight she snapped. The letter could have been a joke from a guy asking for a moment alone with his girlfriend and in it his hesitance to jump from playful to committed. The story invented, while the most probable, was the most severe option she could conjure up and not the one I wanted to believe. I know I'm grasping at straws, but I want to believe Briony was wrong. The beauty of the story is I can.

The fact that I cared enough about the characters to want that for them, to simmer over it after I closed the book, reluctant to have it end, testifies to the power of the story. Despite my longing, I wouldn't necessarily consider the story of Robbie and Cecilia a complete tragedy. If one had survived to grieve and hate then yes, but to have such intense love (to have "a reason for life" as Cecilia put it) and be reunited after a short time gives their lives meaning and purpose and only makes it tragic for Briony left to regret the consequences of her rash judgment without ever hope of reconciliation. There in lies the tragedy: in a girl's life altered, not in the love story.Some of my favorite quotes:It wasn't only wickedness and scheming that made people unhappy, it was confusion and misunderstanding; above all, it was the failure to grasp the simple truth that other people are as real as you. And only in a story could you enter there different minds and show how they had a equal value. That was the only moral a story need have.The cost of oblivious daydreaming was always this moment of return, the realignment with what had been before and now seemed a little worse.(Robbie of meeting Cecilia) It would be worse, but he still wanted it. he had to have it. He wanted it to be worse. Every now and then quite unintentionally someone taught you something about yourself.(Robbie & Cecilia uttering each other's names) It sounded like a new word--the syllables remained the same, the meaning was different.(Briony on guilt) How quite refined the methods of self-torture, invading the beads of detail into an eternal loop, a rosary to be fingered for a lifetime.Memories--bleached colorless through overuse.With the clarity of passionA person is, among all else, a material thing, easily torn and not easily mended.She was the sort of girl who lived in her thoughts.It was common enough to see so much death and want a child, common therefore human, and he wanted it all the more. When the wounded were screaming, you dreamed of sharing a little house somewhere, of an ordinary life, a family line, connection.Now was her chance to proclaim in public all the private anguish and purge herself of all that she had done wrong. Before the altar of this most rational of churches.To Briony it appeared her life was gong to be lived in one room without a door.What she felt was more like homesickness though there was no source for it, no home. ...more

AnnalisaTatiana, I hated her the first half of the book, but by the end, I really did feel bad for her. If she had been punished, I would have thought, "good,Tatiana, I hated her the first half of the book, but by the end, I really did feel bad for her. If she had been punished, I would have thought, "good, the little brat deserved it," but she lost her sister and ruined hers and Robbie's life and never got a chance to make amends. She changed from capricious to coward overnight. I think getting with something can sometimes be the worst punishment....more
Mar 24, 2010 03:30PM

Shayantani DasWow, you described it so well Annalisa:)
Jul 04, 2011 12:25AM

A scintillating piece of the purest gemstone, a diamond, was tracing around the forceps of a persona, the face of a mountain. The sky was a jet-black expanse devoid of sunlight and every color that pleases the eyes. There were small bursts of constant explosions inside that cavernous cave of red. A ripping sensation engulfed the whole scenery, like a piece of meat being torn by a pack of savage dogs. Emptiness. Then, a small stream of gold flowed from the heavens. Color was restored in the mostA scintillating piece of the purest gemstone, a diamond, was tracing around the forceps of a persona, the face of a mountain. The sky was a jet-black expanse devoid of sunlight and every color that pleases the eyes. There were small bursts of constant explosions inside that cavernous cave of red. A ripping sensation engulfed the whole scenery, like a piece of meat being torn by a pack of savage dogs. Emptiness. Then, a small stream of gold flowed from the heavens. Color was restored in the most simple of hues. The raging river was calmed and tamed. There was absolute stillness in the valley. A small crack, a curve, appeared on the face of the mountain. A smile. Then, I closed that little book called "Atonement".

Ian McEwan's masterpiece left me a man defined by his emotions. It was a breath-taking view I glimpsed but I fell into a pit of the darkest kind. I was a happy yet an unhappy man. The logical part of me was so astounded and amazed by that single confession, that act of self-abdication. The logical man was very impressed by that post-modernist ending. Yet, that man of feeling was abhorred and devastated. He was deftly crushed. I did not know what to say. Of course, in times like these, feeling is preemptive of thinking. One feels before one thinks. When the dust settled, all I felt was anger, then I saw the light. This is sort of reminiscent to Lolita. Where Nabokov uses literary artistry to, in a way, ask for consideration on Humbert's part. To mask the monster underneath a facade of beauty. McEwan adapts this concept in a different way. Instead of aesthetic artistry, though it is still present, the manipulation of fates and events become the central point of his undertaking. They both acknowledge the healing powers of the written word. Before the book even started, the reader is already given a Romantic novel quote--something out of Jane Austen's "Northanger Abbey." This sets the tone for a book that will be packed with literary allegory. Even the form of the book walks the reader through some of English lit's historical periods: Part One--Austen'esque Romanticism; Part Two--Historical Fiction War Story; Part Three--Victorian or Modern Memoir; and Part Four--Post Modern speculation and theory. You see, McEwan's Briony cleverly concocted a covering of gold to a broken statue of clay.

“How can a novelist achieve atonement when, with her absolute power of deciding outcomes, she is also God? There is no one, no entity or higher form that she can appeal to, or be reconciled with, or that can forgive her. There is nothing outside her. In her imagination she has set the limits and the terms. No atonement for God, or novelists, even if they are atheists. It was always an impossible task, and that was precisely the point. The attempt was all.”

Briony will never receive Atonement. But, I do believe that she has achieved At-One-Ment with herself if not with her readers, for she has done everything in her power to make up for her crime.

“A person is, among all else, a material thing, easily torn and not easily mended.”

If you consider the gravity of Briony's crime, the effect, the outcome, even when you put her innocence in consideration, one can't help but feel hatred for her. I admit, I did. But in time, the fact that it was the effect of a wildly imaginative ardor will soften the blow. Surely, atonement isn't for her, but sympathy is what she deserves and it's what she refuses to get. Some might consider her act of altering the story a Pontius Pilate act. But I admire her for it. She shuns sympathy even when she greatly needs it because she knows she doesn't deserve it. And though she might not be able to mend the flesh, she was able to conjure their spirit of love. Robbie and Cecilia might be gone, but their love lives in the memories of people who read their story. Much like Briony has etched herself in mine. I know what she looks like. I watched her grow up. I was there every step of the way, and I will keep a part of her alive in me until the day I take my last breath. But even then, that wouldn't be the end. Others will take her up in their memories and keep her alive. Sure, she might not be the same as when I envisioned her. But she'll live far longer than I. So the same will go for the lovers. Therefore I wholeheartedly agree with the excerpt below.

“But what really happened? The answer is simple: the lovers survive and flourish.”

Literature immortalized their love, and that's all that matters. Not her Atonement, but their Love....more

Is it wrong to review a book based on your much more lucid rememberings of the film rather than the actual text itself?

Nah.

Things from the film which were good:Keira Knightley has a nice green dress. I would like a nice green dress like that. Or to quote Jessi - someone has to get me one of those dresses stat!

James McAvoy looks better in this than he does as Mr Tumnus the faun in Narnia. In Narnia his big wet weepy faun eyes made me want to shoot myself until I got distracted by Tilda Swinton'sIs it wrong to review a book based on your much more lucid rememberings of the film rather than the actual text itself?

Nah.

Things from the film which were good:Keira Knightley has a nice green dress. I would like a nice green dress like that. Or to quote Jessi - someone has to get me one of those dresses stat!

James McAvoy looks better in this than he does as Mr Tumnus the faun in Narnia. In Narnia his big wet weepy faun eyes made me want to shoot myself until I got distracted by Tilda Swinton's Amazing Ice Queen costume which was FIERCE. Here he wears a nice neat uniform and probably has averagely hairy legs.

That Briony Tallis kid is the exact right level of annoying.

And now back to the book:A childish act vengeance after the realisation that a childhood crush will never be fulfilled leads to a series of events which span decades and shape the course of one families existence. Split into four parts, Briony Tallis recounts the story with startling honesty and a clarity which only comes about with adulthood and a loss of innocence. This story is her Atonement.

Tragic, poetic and one of McEwan's books which spans a looser time period.On Chesil Beach = a few hours Saturday = 1 dayThe Comfort of Strangers = a mini break.

I like books which pivot around a core event which is essentially the pin being pulled out of the handgrenade. One which is so heart stoppingly unchangeable that you know it will haunt the characters for ever. A similar method of "oh-my-god-if-you'd-only-not-done-that-then-we-wouldn't-have-arrived-at-this-tragically-remorseful-place-now" style writing is also employed to good effect in The Story of Lucy Gault by William Trevor. If you liked this then go and get yourself a copy of The Story of Lucy Gault. ...more

'I had written him a letter which I had, for want of betterKnowledge, sent to where I met him down the Lachlan, years ago,He was shearing when I knew him, so I sent the letter to him,Just "on spec", addressed as follows: "Clancy, of The Overflow"'

To borrow the opening verse of a famous Australian poem by Banjo Patterson, this is precisely what parts of Atonement feel like. A letter, written and directed to relatives wrongly accused in the hope of seeking forgiveness or at the least: atonement. A'I had written him a letter which I had, for want of betterKnowledge, sent to where I met him down the Lachlan, years ago,He was shearing when I knew him, so I sent the letter to him,Just "on spec", addressed as follows: "Clancy, of The Overflow"'

To borrow the opening verse of a famous Australian poem by Banjo Patterson, this is precisely what parts of Atonement feel like. A letter, written and directed to relatives wrongly accused in the hope of seeking forgiveness or at the least: atonement. Atonement is one of the finest modern literary novels I have read, lyrical and hauntingly moving, while captivating the reader with an interesting story. As for the ideas behind this novel, they are profound. I believe this book alone is one which should class McEwan as a writer deserving of acclaim.

I noted in the previous McEwan novel I read how McEwan had written in the first person present tense. In Atonement his writing is still a beautiful, if not more beautiful, but set in the third-person. And personally this works better in describing the events of the story. By the end of the novel the narrative does drift into first person, but only as necessary for the story's completion. For by the end of the novel the reader will see that this book is 'not written' by McEwan but rather by Briony Tallis herself as her testimony of a wrong once done. I thought this method of having Atonement be something of a book within a book was a brilliant meta-linguistic technique. Of course I did not recognise this until the end of the novel, which is when McEwan wanted his readers to see this fact.

The novel focuses on Briony Tallis, a thirteen year old in 1934, who could perhaps be described as capricious and wilful. She wants the world to run according to her designs (as any thirteen year old does) and is a budding author, having been in the process of writing a play. This introduction to Briony perfectly places her into the narrative as a naive dreamer, a girl who sees black and white and then argues what she sees.

At the story's opening Briony Tallis spies her sister Cecilia strip down to her underwear in front of one particular boy, Robbie Turner and so begins a dreadful misinterpretation, particularly when she reads a smutty letter from Robbie to Cecilia, as Briony suspects Robbie of committing wrong against her sister. (view spoiler)[This belief is confirmed to her when she finds Robbie and Cecilia in the library making love. (hide spoiler)] When Briony's cousin Lola is raped, she reports that it was Robbie who did the deed, though he claims innocence. And so Robbie, one a 'family friend' is separated from his lover and a once loving family because she believes so clearly that it was Robbie.

The themes of this novel essentially resolve around the conflict created from Briony's mistake. The question is asked subtly by the novel: can anyone be forgiven or make up for a mistake made as a child? The question is not should they, for I think that most people would believe that yes, an individual should be forgiven if they are truly sorry for their mistake. But the question asked is 'can they be forgiven?'. Another aspect of McEwan's brilliant writing is that he does make complOvex and solid characters in this novel who respond not to fairytale logic but rather who respond as emotional individuals. And as emotionally driven humans there are some crimes and some wrongs that we never want to right or forgive. Personally this element touched me due to my beliefs in God and that we all need someone who can unconditionally forgive, because I do not think that we as people can forgive every detail of a crime done against us. Or we may pardon them but never forget their mistake. We will allow mistakes to colour our perception of individuals. And from this perspective this was a great book, along with the writing, the characters and the overall story.

Overall a piece of literature that deserves to be read and has been read by many hundreds of thousands of people. It's a potential classic in the making and certainly has to be McEwan's best work in writing. I encourage anyone who is interested in stories about unfair accusations and forgiveness to give it a try if they have not.["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>...more

Is there word beyond 'amazing' that I can use? Some word beyond 'enthralling'? I need them. I'm reaching for them. But I literally just finished the book and I'm so much in awe of it I just can't. It's perfect. It's perfect in every image and line and mirror and echo. Ian McEwan is such a master of language and storycraft.

I devoured this book in a day. Less than a day. Ignoring all other work to do so. And it was TOTALLY worth it.

I can't think of what to praise first this point, so I'm going toIs there word beyond 'amazing' that I can use? Some word beyond 'enthralling'? I need them. I'm reaching for them. But I literally just finished the book and I'm so much in awe of it I just can't. It's perfect. It's perfect in every image and line and mirror and echo. Ian McEwan is such a master of language and storycraft.

I devoured this book in a day. Less than a day. Ignoring all other work to do so. And it was TOTALLY worth it.

I can't think of what to praise first this point, so I'm going to go in random order. I'll start with the language. It's enthralling. It's that that draws you into the story. The story moves rather slowly, really. Half of the book takes place on a single day. But it is the language that makes you not care. The wordchoice is enchanting, just so. Gorgeous imagery interposed with just the right touch of magic to keep it beautifully fresh. He weaves his images throughout the text, having them pop up again and again, subtly. For instance, a pair of boy's pajamas becomes a symbol of war and horror as well as innocence ruined and then vague oppression and doubt renewed throughout the novel. A finger becomes a sense of self and changed identity at various points. It's just gorgeously done.

The storycraft is so perfect too. I love how he chooses to do it, switching from perspective to perspective, but always with the center on this delusional little girl, and the echoes of her own storymaking. It is story that screws over them all in the end. But it is story that resurrects them too. I loved his inward musings on writing, and his critique of his own writing within the text. It's a bit of a breaking of the fourth wall that's done with a rather sad irony, but it still brought a smile to my face.

I really enjoyed the themes that he explored too. Eventually I'll post some of my favorite quotes to give an idea of the beauty of the language and ideas that he explores as well, but in general... I think my favorite idea that he dealt with was the idea of order as a kind of childishness. As a kind of little, small denial of the world. The entire book shows the folly of order and what it does to our souls and minds. (quotes to come on this). I also loved his treatment of the all consuming nature of guilt. Atonement. Atonement indeed.

KellyAs always, great review Kelly. I have actually triedd three times to read this book, but have often come up short in time and the ability to focus onAs always, great review Kelly. I have actually triedd three times to read this book, but have often come up short in time and the ability to focus on the story completely. But reading this now was worth the wait, it's an enchanting, if gritty, read. But 480 pages?? I seriously only have 351 in mine!!...more
Aug 06, 2010 09:39AM

KellyI have a reading discussion guide in mine and you never know about typesets- could also be a GR librarian error. In any case, thanks for the nice wordI have a reading discussion guide in mine and you never know about typesets- could also be a GR librarian error. In any case, thanks for the nice words and yeah- not everyone is a McEwan fan, but I'm glad you came to appreciate him in the end. He's lead me to good things....more
Aug 09, 2010 07:34AM

**NOTE: Spoilers included: I like the experience of reading a book and then seeing the movie, which is why I read this book. Both the book and the movie are highly acclaimed, so what could be a better choice?

I haven’t yet seen the movie since I just finished the book today, but perhaps I should have read "No Country For Old Men" instead.

100 pages into this book, I wanted to just give up. It felt like something that would have been forced on me by high school English teachers, with all the desc**NOTE: Spoilers included: I like the experience of reading a book and then seeing the movie, which is why I read this book. Both the book and the movie are highly acclaimed, so what could be a better choice?

I haven’t yet seen the movie since I just finished the book today, but perhaps I should have read "No Country For Old Men" instead.

100 pages into this book, I wanted to just give up. It felt like something that would have been forced on me by high school English teachers, with all the descriptive, flowery language about British aristocratic characters, scenery, and architecture in 1935 that I just couldn’t bring myself to care about. Were it not for the knowledge that Briony was going to commit a crime (based on the back of the book), I would have definitely put it down. Even so, I thought the crime would have been something worse than perjury – taking approximately 170+ pages to build up to the crime better damn well be murder! (joking) – but nonetheless, her crime tore her family apart, which was bad. But still, taking up 170+ pages to describe one afternoon (as many people on this site have noted) was unnecessary. And even though the writing style was beautiful, elegant, etc., it seemed like nothing really *happened;* it was mostly thoughts, memories, and physical descriptions, much of which were irrelevant to the actual plot. Maybe that’s just my preference for reading books in which the characters actually DO something and TALK to each other. I mean, don’t get me wrong, a little description is ok and necessary, but this just took it to the extreme. I know McEwan was just trying to show the depth of the characters at play, thus getting the reader to care more about them and make the impact of what was about to happen more forceful, but he overdid it to the point of making me not care at all. I didn’t think the plot of this book really needed such in-depth description.

However, Parts 2 & 3 changed gears and definitely picked up; it was like reading a completely different book! I enjoyed reading about Robbie’s traumatic escape from France during the Battle of Dunkirk, and Briony’s experience as a nurse tending to the wounded/dead of World War II. Both sections were a refreshing contrast to the superficial, snobbish feel of the first section of the book (not that war is refreshing).

One thing I thought the book was missing and should have elaborated on more rather than the tedious Part 1 was the immediate aftermath of Briony’s crime. After the crime occurs, the plot immediately jumps to Robbie in France during the war, and we are told very little of what happened in the 3 year period of time between the crime itself, Robbie’s prison sentence, and his eventual deployment. We know that Robbie had aspired to go to medical school, but was the outcome of the novel a result of Briony’s crime or World War II? Even if Briony committed no crime, wasn’t Robbie’s being drafted to the war and eventual separation from Cecilia inevitable?

Despite being unsure if the novel’s outcome was the result of war or a childhood crime, unlike what some posters on this site have written, I actually liked the ending. I liked the revelation that the story was a novel within a novel, and an attempt at atonement that never happens in (Briony’s fictional) reality. If Briony had went on to talk to her family, lawyers, and legally retracted her false statement, and then Cecilia and Robbie lived happily ever after and forgave Briony, the novel would have been merely a glorified version of Briony’s juvenile The Trials of Arabella. Maybe it’s just me, but happy, neat endings in movies, books, etc. sometimes just get old. Life is just not that perfect, and the fact is, seemingly innocuous actions in the present may lead to consequences that can never be redeemed.

Overall, the length and weightiness of the first part of the book is why I only gave it 2 stars, but if that section had been condensed into, say, 50 pages or less, I would have given it 5 stars.

Jennie"We know that Robbie had aspired to go to medical school, but was the outcome of the novel a result of Briony’s crime or World War II? Even if Briony"We know that Robbie had aspired to go to medical school, but was the outcome of the novel a result of Briony’s crime or World War II? Even if Briony committed no crime, wasn’t Robbie’s being drafted to the war and eventual separation from Cecilia inevitable?"

I don't think his end was inevitable. I thought he was released from prison on the condition that he join up. Had he been in medical school instead, wouldn't he have been exempt from being in one of the armed forces?...more
Oct 23, 2010 07:39PM

MelyndaOkay Now I don't feel so bad. Yes, the description at the beginning was over the top and pointless too me. I have never put a book down to never wantOkay Now I don't feel so bad. Yes, the description at the beginning was over the top and pointless too me. I have never put a book down to never want to pick it up again. I'm sorry to say I looked at the 2nd half of the book, but because of the beginning I put it down never to pick it up again, with no ill feelings....more
Sep 25, 2012 12:42PM

This is the first book I've read by this guy, and I really enjoyed it. You know who I'd recommend this book to, but I don't think it'd fit in that little box up there? Okay, you know how sometimes you're craving a certain kind of musical style, like sixties soul, say, or classic British punk, but you don't actually want to listen to old music, you want to listen to something that's, like, of the now? There're a few (okay, not many) bands out there that don't just do hollow retro imitations, butThis is the first book I've read by this guy, and I really enjoyed it. You know who I'd recommend this book to, but I don't think it'd fit in that little box up there? Okay, you know how sometimes you're craving a certain kind of musical style, like sixties soul, say, or classic British punk, but you don't actually want to listen to old music, you want to listen to something that's, like, of the now? There're a few (okay, not many) bands out there that don't just do hollow retro imitations, but sort of take what they love from the classics, and somehow make that new and fresh and appropriate to our time. I'd say this book is like that: it's the perfect thing if you're after an exquisitely written modernist novel, only you don't actually want to get into the musty old canon, and would like something new. Honestly, I think this actually works better with fiction than with music.... In any case, this guy can sure put together a sentence, let me tell you! Beautiful, beautiful sentences. They made me a little ashamed of myself. Actually, they made me a lot ashamed, but I was enjoying it so much that I didn't feel bad.

I'm a little hesitant about putting this in my book report, because I really do recommend this book and I'd like you to read it, but I have to say that I did find the last chapter hugely disappointing. It did have one instant where it went a ways toward redeeming itself at the end, but on the whole it was kind of like.... I don't know. It didn't ruin the book or anything, but it made me feel like Ian McEwan might be something slightly less than the incredible, sublime sentence-crafting god I'd been picturing him as. I mean, I guess he looks pretty ordinary on the back photo, which should have been a tip-off. Isn't there some culture's artistic tradition that's like that, where they purposely don't finish or add imperfections in their statues, to remind humanity that nothing we make can all that great? Well, the little coda at the end of _Atonement_ kind of hit me like that. To be sure, the author is extremely talented... but he is mortal, like the rest of us.

Yeah, the ending is dumb alright.

Worse than dumb, it's poorly executed. I understand why he felt he needed it, and the impulse was a good one. However, its function should have been accomplished with the grace and style all previous chapters had, and in my opinion it wasn't. It was just off, to me: like a great restaurant with mediocre desserts.

Anyway, it was still a great book. I'm curious if other people agree with me about this, or if I just sound cranky. I was just looking at other Bookster reviews, and everyone else seems to be like, "I didn't really take to this book until I got to the fabulous ending!" So obviously there's no accounting for (everyone else's) taste....more

I have previously cursed you for writing some of the most heart-wrenchingly painful shit I’ve ever read. Today, I curse your skill.

I put off this book for a long time. I found it a couple of years ago on a bargain rack for two dollars and picked it up, knowing I’d get to it eventually. I wasn’t super excited, because I saw the rather uninspired film adaptation. I don’t usually enjoy historical fiction, either, so there were the two big arguments against actually puttingGoddamn you, Ian McEwan.

I have previously cursed you for writing some of the most heart-wrenchingly painful shit I’ve ever read. Today, I curse your skill.

I put off this book for a long time. I found it a couple of years ago on a bargain rack for two dollars and picked it up, knowing I’d get to it eventually. I wasn’t super excited, because I saw the rather uninspired film adaptation. I don’t usually enjoy historical fiction, either, so there were the two big arguments against actually putting the time in. McEwan, you’re an investment. I know this.

I’ve got no idea why I picked it up. It was the day before the new semester started, and Atonement looked interesting. I read something like ten pages that night before putting it aside. Then class started and I didn’t have time for it. It sat there on my nightstand for weeks. The part I read was interesting, but I couldn’t dedicate the time necessary to the dense prose.

But then it started bothering me. I didn’t like that I’d started it, but didn’t finish. So I picked it up and finished it.

One of those courses I’m taking is in creative writing. Each week, we are assigned a chapter in the textbook that focuses on how to write the different aspects of a story well (plot, setting, characters, etc.). Atonement could have been a companion text for how to do everything right. That is frustrating when you’re struggling to do anything right.

I am really frustrated with myself that I can't bring myself to like this novel. The passage from Northanger Abbey that precedes it was promising; anything referencing Jane Austen should be worth reading. However, despite the fact that his style is interesting, that every sentence attempts to make an impact, I feel as if it is trying too hard. A comparison to Austen's writing style is ridiculous, because even though McEwen attempts the same focus on a brilliant turn of the phrase, his style in nI am really frustrated with myself that I can't bring myself to like this novel. The passage from Northanger Abbey that precedes it was promising; anything referencing Jane Austen should be worth reading. However, despite the fact that his style is interesting, that every sentence attempts to make an impact, I feel as if it is trying too hard. A comparison to Austen's writing style is ridiculous, because even though McEwen attempts the same focus on a brilliant turn of the phrase, his style in no way comes close to Austen's clarity.

I also found the plot to be faulty. Yes, his detailed description of one afternoon if for the most part gripping, but what happens before and after is lacking. I want to believe that Cecilia and Robbie are in love, but there's not enough there to substantiate that. The description of their secretive letter-writing seems to serve as an indication of their close relationship, but I find it hard to believe that the almost racy yet purposeless Cecilia (as she is characterized in the first half), who was planning on staying at her parents' home all summer because she didn't know what else to do, now has purpose, drive, and patience to wait for Robbie like a good housewife. I can't reconcile her earlier flightiness with her later responsibility.

Another issue is the novel's lack of focus. Is the point the consequences of a child's mistake? Or is the point the unfortunate results of fate and war?

Overall, there are too many issues that are unresolved or lacking development (i.e. Cecilia's personality, Robbie's turmoil with class, Leon in general) to make me like this novel. Even the observations on writing that make up so much of the introduction do not carry through the rest of the novel. I will reread it, however, and see if my opinion changes....more

I like the idea of this book. Ian McEwan's definition of atonement is as dazzling as it is strange. I also love the prose. So rich and refined. For these reasons alone, I'm giving Atonement 3 stars.

The rest of this review, I'm afraid, is a jumbled explanation for why this book made me so mad.

I thought the purpose of this book was to tell a sThis. Book. Drove. Me. Nuts.

Did I sabotage the book by opting to watch the movie first?Maybe.

Or would it have turned out this way regardless?I'll never know.

I like the idea of this book. Ian McEwan's definition of atonement is as dazzling as it is strange. I also love the prose. So rich and refined. For these reasons alone, I'm giving Atonement 3 stars.

The rest of this review, I'm afraid, is a jumbled explanation for why this book made me so mad.

I thought the purpose of this book was to tell a story. A story about how a misunderstanding borne out of innocence could tragically alter so many lives. But did it really do that??

It tried to, at least in the beginning. But even then, I did not for a minute believe that it was really happening, that all these people actually existed. It felt like the script of a play - everything was carefully rehearsed and choreographed. Every character from Briony to Cecelia, from Robbie to Leon, was like a caricature, like Arabella in The Trials of Arabella.

Then somewhere past the halfway mark, the story just stopped and Atonement turned into a documentary on the horrors of WW2. Civilians were getting blown to bits, soldiers were being left to die, villages were turning to rubble... I'm not saying it was pointless but it was way overdone. If these characters felt vague before, they ceased to exist for me then - lost in the mess of war tales.

So you see, very little actually happened in the course of 350 pages. So much of it was devoted to overtly descriptive passages that were, for lack of a better word, boring.

And then there's the twist at the end, of course.

(NOTE: Do not peek at the spoiler if you intend to read the book someday.)

(view spoiler)[Since the entire novel is supposedly written by Briony and not McEwan, maybe the book was deliberately designed to reflect Briony's ineptitude?? If that was what McEwan had in mind, then I think this book is brilliant. (hide spoiler)]

I've spent hours thinking on these lines but each passing minute has only added to my frustration.

So I'm settling for 3.

P.s. I personally prefer the movie. It doesn't screw with your head so much :/["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>...more

JillOh yeah! That makes sense about the ending of the film being underwhelming. I have to rewatch it. It's been awhile and I adore Keira Knightley and JamOh yeah! That makes sense about the ending of the film being underwhelming. I have to rewatch it. It's been awhile and I adore Keira Knightley and James McAvoy.

And, dude, I love the spoilery, more analytical discussion as well! Goodreads is great for recommendations but sometimes I wish I had more opportunities to actually discuss what a book actually MEANS. So thanks for indulging me :)...more
Jun 21, 2013 08:46AM

ScarletJill wrote: "Oh yeah! That makes sense about the ending of the film being underwhelming. I have to rewatch it. It's been awhile and I adore Keira KnigJill wrote: "Oh yeah! That makes sense about the ending of the film being underwhelming. I have to rewatch it. It's been awhile and I adore Keira Knightley and James McAvoy.

And, dude, I love the spoilery, mor..."

Somehow, most of my spoilery discussions involve you Jill! Remember I am the Messenger?? ;)

Here's to many more literary brainstorming sessions in the future!! :D...more
Jun 21, 2013 09:44AM

Four stars for the exquisite, lush descriptions in Part 1. Astute insight into a variety of characters and their motivations. The details of a single day made me feel I was there. (My frustrations at the ending make it a grudging four stars.)

I read Part 1 with suspense (even trepidation) at every turn, but it was fueled by information on the book's cover--telling me that Briony would accuse Robbie of a crime and it would change their lives forever. (I am not sure how I would have reacted to thisFour stars for the exquisite, lush descriptions in Part 1. Astute insight into a variety of characters and their motivations. The details of a single day made me feel I was there. (My frustrations at the ending make it a grudging four stars.)

I read Part 1 with suspense (even trepidation) at every turn, but it was fueled by information on the book's cover--telling me that Briony would accuse Robbie of a crime and it would change their lives forever. (I am not sure how I would have reacted to this section without that knowledge. This detracts from the book's inherent power, having to rely upon the cover copywriters.) The long descriptions of each moment, with its smells and light, prolonged this delicious agony. Parts 2 & 3 flew by in comparison, with the crime already committed and the days and years described succinctly.

I am especially impressed with McEwan's understanding of how a 13-year-old girl, in her immature, orderly, and righteous ways, would feel revolted, defiled, and betrayed by the idea of blatant adult sexuality. I can believe she would respond as she does, and that she would be unable to distinguish between a maniac and a lover.

Class is a major theme, and who can argue with the classism McEwan portrays? The evil rich prosper and the innocent poor are squashed underfoot. An interlocking theme is freedom--to choose a path and live your life. Of course, there is also loss of innocence ("she was still wearing the filthy white dress").

***SPOILERS BELOW!***

I feel cheated by the revelation in the last pages, of fiction within fiction. If the whole book is Briony's version of the story, it should be first-person. Of course, this is the main theme of this novel--the creator of fiction wields considerable control over others, concealing or changing words at his/her own whim. So I think McEwan wants to piss us off to make his point. Why else "deceive" the reader, then "un-deceive?" He seems to say that readers want a "happy ending," but I'd rather have a tragic one and know it than have "happy" one ripped away from me. Briony creates the false happy ending (the one she wishes had happened) for her own selfish reasons, and perhaps it helps her sleep at night.

The book's title is never achieved for me: Briony cannot atone for her wrong. She wants her novel to be an atonement. She wants her service as a nurse to atone. But, for Robbie and Cecilia, the damage cannot be undone. Briony spends her life having to assuage her conscience through her writing. But she lives a long, prosperous/satisfyingly successful, comfortable life, so I feel her novel is too little, way too late.

What about Briony's experience with the West Indian, lawyer cabbie? You can't tell who's educated nowadays, she says. That should have been true for Robbie in 1935 and she knows it.

Where are the reliable, loyal men among the characters? Not Jack Tallis, absent father who can't even get home in an emergency. Not Leon, who is married four times and can't seem to commit to the profession he studied. Only Robbie is "innocent" (although the consensual fornication he commits with Cecilia in the library would have been a crime in 1935 though it is not to modern readers), and he is accused by the pillars of society. Perhaps the blue-collar men are reliable and loyal--the constable, the servants, the soldiers. They also have to jump when the rich say jump (make a roast on the hottest day of the year, die in the war, etc.).

I'm also not convinced of some plot elements: Wouldn't Cecilia make some argument as to Robbie's innocence--wouldn't it be heard by someone--or is her testimony nullified by her indecent acts in the library, acts I'm not sure are fully revealed? Couldn't she appeal to the sister who wanted to protect her--do they never talk after that night? Would Lola marry Marshall (I can't give 20-year-old Lola the same inability to distinguish between maniac and lover that I can allow in 13-year-old Briony)? Would Marshall seek a legitimate relationship with Lola? How can the lifelong prosperity of the Marshalls, shown by Briony in the final section, have had its beginnings in the violent, hateful acts we witness in 1935 (rape is not an act of sex, it is an act of violence)? Would Jackson and Pierrot be close, life-long family members of Briony, while their sister Lola is estranged from Briony? I feel including Jackson and his descendants in the final birthday party for Briony is a convenient plot element, but not believable....more

"More than a little reminiscent of Woolf in its converging and diverging viewpoints, its serious concern with the portrayal of social and interior life... and of course the dinner-party scene. That part, I loved. I wasn't as keen on the latter third or so of Part One (too much prolepsis is nobody's friend), and Part Two thus far is slow going--which is surprising, as it's the WWII part! But it's early yet."

Despite being a perfectly good portrayal of meWhen I'd just finished Part I, I wrote this:

"More than a little reminiscent of Woolf in its converging and diverging viewpoints, its serious concern with the portrayal of social and interior life... and of course the dinner-party scene. That part, I loved. I wasn't as keen on the latter third or so of Part One (too much prolepsis is nobody's friend), and Part Two thus far is slow going--which is surprising, as it's the WWII part! But it's early yet."

Despite being a perfectly good portrayal of men at war and of a dramatic historical moment (the evacuation from Dunkirk) that's mostly overlooked by historical fiction, Part Two never did manage to impress me. Mostly, I think we weren't given enough emotional insight into Robbie in Part One, so being dropped into war-torn Europe with him in Part Two was no more than abstractly affecting. I also couldn't tell how much of the "mystery" from Part One was supposed to be telegraphed, but there were no surprises for me in the final revelations.

That said, I loved the Tallis women, and was particularly impressed by McEwan's insights into what it means to be a woman; see Briony's wry observation in the closing section about the veteran colonel who resents the feminine presumption of writing about war. Overall, Part Three was by far the most compelling as a narrative, and after a lot of vacillating, I was finally sold on the book by the final section, where all its slightly precious metafictive devices were finally justified. For some reason, McEwan writing about Briony writing about Briony learning to write (i.e., her insight while watching the fountain scene) just felt self-indulgent. But when the last level settled into place--McEwan writing about Briony writing about Briony writing about Briony learning to write--I got interested in what he was saying. I don't know how that works.

Moreover, what could have felt pat and cynical in that final section (the author's deceptions and conflations, the rewritten happy ending, the dreaded first-person flash-forward to The Present) was actually quite moving and smart.

Also, this passage was fabulous:

The problem these fifty-nine years has been this: how can a novelist achieve atonement when, with her absolute power of deciding outcomes, she is also God? There is no one, no entity or higher form that she can appeal to, or be reconciled with, or that can forgive her. There is nothing outside her. In her imagination she has set the limits and the terms. No atonement for God, or novelists, even if they are atheists. It was always an impossible task, and that was precisely the point. The attempt was all.

(The little echo of Hamlet in "The attempt was all" didn't hurt either.)...more

My 3rd book by Ian McEwan and he still did not disappoint. Rather, he continued to baffle me and keep me in awe while reading his prose. Simply excellent.

Many times, I hesitated picking up this book. The reason: I saw its movie adaptation a few years back and I knew the plot. However, one of my Goodreads friends was right: I still enjoyed the book primarily for the portions that I thought I did not see in the movie like that garden scene where 10-y/o Briony Tallis told their gardener young man,My 3rd book by Ian McEwan and he still did not disappoint. Rather, he continued to baffle me and keep me in awe while reading his prose. Simply excellent.

Many times, I hesitated picking up this book. The reason: I saw its movie adaptation a few years back and I knew the plot. However, one of my Goodreads friends was right: I still enjoyed the book primarily for the portions that I thought I did not see in the movie like that garden scene where 10-y/o Briony Tallis told their gardener young man, Robbie Turner that she loved him or the scene when nurse Briony loosened up the bandage on the dying soldier's head which was a mistake as she realized that part of the skull was missing as she could see the white bloody brain. I was also anticipating that the end would be different but it seemed that, in essence, it was the same: the old and gray Briony telling the reader (or the viewer) that the lovers, Robbie and Cecilia Tallis actually died separately during the war. So, the old Briony was writing her novel as an "atonement" for the mistake that she did when she was 13: telling the police that Robbie was the one who raped Lola, her cousin.

Unlike some of my other friends, I did not find the storytelling boring. McEwan's prose is engrossing for its seriousness yet devoid of philosophical musings and insightful quotes. How can a boring writer think of this pivotal line in the story: "In my dreams I kiss your cunt, your sweet we cunt. In my thoughts I make love to you all day long". Pivotal because it was the note that Robbie sent by mistake to Cecilia that was read by Robbie's messanger, the 13-y/o, Briony. Imagine the confusion that that line could create in the imaginative mind of a no-longer-a-child-but-not-yet-an-woman Briony.

Also, McEwan's vivid descriptions for his settings are remarkable. Reading the first part is like being there in the balcony of the big mansion watching Cecilia and Robbie in the fountain while hearing the voices of Lola, Jackson and Pierrot in the background.

I also liked the way the structure of the book having a lengthy first part, a short second part and the dramatic closing in its third. Reminded me of Virginia Woolf's "To The Lighthouse" an equally excellent classic novel. The second part being the transition or bridge between the two parts.

I have copies of almost all of McEwan's novels and I only read 3. I would like to savor each and would not want to consume everything one after the other. I would like to disprove people who say "good things never last." ...more

I was pretty knocked out when I started to get a handle on what this book is. McEwan is attempting a difficult trick, and every sentence has to be just right for it to hang together. 13-year-old Briony has to walk a tightrope between horrible little punk and precocious budding writer: we need to identify with her without condoning what she does. And along the way McEwan throws in little squiggles - little bits where the coloring escapes the lines - that make you suspect that although it's writteI was pretty knocked out when I started to get a handle on what this book is. McEwan is attempting a difficult trick, and every sentence has to be just right for it to hang together. 13-year-old Briony has to walk a tightrope between horrible little punk and precocious budding writer: we need to identify with her without condoning what she does. And along the way McEwan throws in little squiggles - little bits where the coloring escapes the lines - that make you suspect that although it's written in the third person, you should bring the same skepticism to it that you bring to a first-person story. (view spoiler)[Because it's fairly clear early on that it's not McEwan writing it, but Briony herself. (hide spoiler)] It's a knockout performance: McEwan, whom I haven't read before, utterly nails it.

I don't think he follows through fully on that threat/promise, though. When the actions shifted in the second half, by several years and many miles, I was thrown off and never completely recovered. I'm not sure what I wish he'd done instead. Maybe make the whole book like 500 pages longer? Because what he's about here is describing a life - three, in fact - lived in atonement for one sin, and I don't think he quite gets there.

The hints of narrative instability don't come to anything, really. (view spoiler)[There's of course a big one at the end, but that all amounts to sortof a coda followed by an entirely different coda, and it barely affected me. What was more interesting to me was the rejection letter Briony received about her first draft of this book. The editors suggested plot elements - "Maybe the girl could come between the couple!" - that are in the story you just read, and this raises questions that are interesting to me: so, has the first half of the book been embellished? To what extent has she been writing fiction? But the answer ends up being no and none, I think: the editors' suggestions were more ironic than meta. And maybe this is just a case of my complaining because McEwan didn't write exactly the book I wanted this to be - a ridiculous sin that I'm often guilty of. I love unreliable narration; I want every book to lie to me. Now I'm whining about it. "Not enough lying!" But still: I felt like he was bringing up interesting threads and then dropping them.

I get that since the theme of the book is atonement, that final twist - in which Cecilia and Robbie get their happy ending, and then they don't - has repercussions for the whole thing. If they live happily ever after, then they survived Briony's betrayal; if they died young, she's destroyed both of their lives. But that seems a little like confusing the process of atonement for its result. The process is the story, and it's the interesting part, and I think she wrote that part accurately. Also, btw, that final coda was saccharine. (hide spoiler)]

I'm giving this five stars because seriously, man, McEwan can write like a motherfucker. I really enjoyed reading this: couldn't wait to pick it up, blasted through it in three days. But it's also true that I felt a little let down by the second half, so this was a tough rating for me.

But I'd instantly and gleefully pick up another McEwan book any day, so I guess that's five stars for you.["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>...more

A beautifully written and cleverly told story of relationships, growing up, guilt and, obviously, atonement and forgiveness. The essence of the story is how a childish mistake, made in good faith (more or less) can have consequences for many people, for many years.

Although it would be better to read this before watching the film, I’d heard that the book had been thought unfilmable and so was pretty different, which ensured I was alert to reading it with fresh eyes.

Part 1 is perhaps not quite aA beautifully written and cleverly told story of relationships, growing up, guilt and, obviously, atonement and forgiveness. The essence of the story is how a childish mistake, made in good faith (more or less) can have consequences for many people, for many years.

Although it would be better to read this before watching the film, I’d heard that the book had been thought unfilmable and so was pretty different, which ensured I was alert to reading it with fresh eyes.

Part 1 is perhaps not quite as idyllic as in the film, but still presents a sharp contrast to the scenes in wartorn France that follow, where lovable Robbie is only referred to with detachment by his surname. Although powerfully described, I think the war section is a little too long, but it's a small quibble.

What McEwan does so well in this is the way he explains the inner thoughts and conflicts of his different characters, especially Briony, both as a naive and self-centred teenager, and as a selfless and guilt-ridden adult.

I loved this book. I know a lot of people walk around sporting huge book boners for Ian McEwan and after my first McEwan novel (Saturday) I didn't get it, because that one was a bit lame in my opinion. Of course after I read it, I had about a million people tell me that it was a bad one to start with, but what can you do? The point being I wasn't expecting to be completely bowled over by this one, but I was.

It started off a little slow but for the past couple days I've had a hard time putting tI loved this book. I know a lot of people walk around sporting huge book boners for Ian McEwan and after my first McEwan novel (Saturday) I didn't get it, because that one was a bit lame in my opinion. Of course after I read it, I had about a million people tell me that it was a bad one to start with, but what can you do? The point being I wasn't expecting to be completely bowled over by this one, but I was.

It started off a little slow but for the past couple days I've had a hard time putting this one down and was wishing it were the weekend so I could have sat down and read for several uninterrupted hours.

I loved the characters. Or rather, I loved Briony, and then I hated her and then I loved her all over again. I almost started to cry when the French soldier died, which would have been a bit awkward since I was on a crowded bus during rush hour. And I loved Robbie and Lola and the twins. Unlike the characters in Saturday (who were more unrealistic stereotypes), the characters from Atonement felt real and human.

I'm so glad this book was such a wonderful surprise. Love, love, loved it. ...more

She sits at her desk in the fading late afternoon light that oozes in through the slats. Her hands hover over the keyboard, and she wills them to move, to begin typing out a review of Ian McEwan's novel Atonement, but they do not. She understands, of course, that willing her hands to move and making them move are two entirely different things, that in fact the thinking about the one is preventing her from accomplishing the other. And yet she doesn't quite know where to begin, what to say.

How canShe sits at her desk in the fading late afternoon light that oozes in through the slats. Her hands hover over the keyboard, and she wills them to move, to begin typing out a review of Ian McEwan's novel Atonement, but they do not. She understands, of course, that willing her hands to move and making them move are two entirely different things, that in fact the thinking about the one is preventing her from accomplishing the other. And yet she doesn't quite know where to begin, what to say.

How can she best express her profound admiration for McEwan's gift of more fully putting the reader into the minds of his characters than perhaps any other writer she has read? In fact, there were many times throughout her reading of the book where McEwan captured the inner workings of a character with such precision that Carolyn thought to herself, "Why, yes, that's it exactly. That's exactly what would happen inside me if I were this character, in this situation, and yet never could I articulate it myself."

And what generosity of spirit McEwan demonstrates, that even the young person whose transgressions against the truth put the most crucial events of the story into motion and have such terrible consequences, is presented in such a way that, although we may despise what she does, we come to understand her so well. In truth, Carolyn, who was also given to trust in the conspiracies of her heart and her imagination as a child, saw some of herself in this character.

And oh, the structure, with its powerful final pages, surprising us and making this story so much more than it was already. Carolyn longs to say more about these final pages, but she is reluctant to do so, for fear of spoiling the novel's impact for others.

And yet, for all this, Carolyn cannot deny that there were sections in the book that did not fully captivate her. Surely such a revelation says more about her than about the book, for there is no denying that Atonement is a tremendous literary achievement. At times perhaps, to Carolyn, the narrator's description of the events and the internal lives of the characters was, perhaps, too precise, if such a thing can be possible...it felt a bit removed and clinical, coolly observing and reporting on the events from a safe remove.

She sits there still, trying to best determine how to express all this. Simply clicking the mouse to assign the book four out of five stars is so inadequate as to be almost comical, when thinking of such a rich, complex and wonderful book as Atonement. And yet she remains at a loss, utterly uncertain as to what else to do, as the sky outside her window takes on a soft pink and purple glow.

Alissa HankinsonI'm disappointed to learn that more isn't revealed about the "rape couple" in the novel; but, they aren't really the point of the story and perhaps thI'm disappointed to learn that more isn't revealed about the "rape couple" in the novel; but, they aren't really the point of the story and perhaps the author felt as if those characters were unworthy of readers' time and consideration, irredeemable personalities unlike Briony.

I was really touched by the film and was looking forward to reading the book someday; after reading your review, however, my curiosity is piqued even more to delve into the inner workings of the characters' minds. I'll have to read it sooner than later.

I absolutely loved this book. It was romantic and very moving at times, with intelligent, complex themes about guilt and the power of writing. The book is split into 3 distinct parts with a final denouement at the end that ties them all together. The 1st part plays out on a country estate where Cecilia, the wealthy daughter of the estate owners, finds hersrlf attracted to Robbie, the son of their charwoman. However, her relationship with Robbie is misinterpreted by Cecilia's younger sister, BrioI absolutely loved this book. It was romantic and very moving at times, with intelligent, complex themes about guilt and the power of writing. The book is split into 3 distinct parts with a final denouement at the end that ties them all together. The 1st part plays out on a country estate where Cecilia, the wealthy daughter of the estate owners, finds hersrlf attracted to Robbie, the son of their charwoman. However, her relationship with Robbie is misinterpreted by Cecilia's younger sister, Briony, which leads to tragedy. With the emphasis of class distinctions and upper class hypocrisy, this section is very reminiscent of Jane Austen and the book, in fact, opens with a quote from Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey. McEwan is an excellent writer and the scenes between the lovers are charged with eroticism and longing:

“Now and then, an inch below the water's surface, the muscles of his stomach tightened involuntarily as he recalled another detail. A drop of water on her upper arm. Wet. An embroidered flower, a simple daisy, sewn between the cups of her bra. Her breasts wide apart and small. On her back, a mole half covered by a strap. When she climbed out of the pond a glimpse of the triangular darkness her knickers were supposed to conceal. Wet. He saw it, he made himself see it again. The way her pelvic bones stretched the material clear of the skin, the deep curve of her waist, her startling whiteness. When she reached for her skirt, a carelessly raised foot revealed a patch of soil on each pad of her sweetly diminished toes. Another mole the size of a farthing on her thigh and something purplish on her calf--a strawberry mark, a scar. Not blemishes. Adornments.”

The 2nd part of the book is a war novel where Robbie finds himself in the middle of the British Army's rout in France and it's frantic withdrawl to Dunkirk at the start of WWII. The horrors of war are well described in this section and Robbie keeps going for one reason only: Cecilia's promise that she would wait for him:

"I'll wait for you was elemental. It was the reason he had survived. It was the ordinary way of saying she would refuse all other men. Only you. Come back."

The final section is a coming of age story and deals with Briony's attempt to atone for her guilt by volunteering at a hospital. McEwan does a excellent job in this section of writing a historical novel about life in England at the start of the war. The fear of a German invasion is palpable and blackout curtains and bomb shelters become a way of life.

McEwan takes his time setting up the plot and he carefully describes each of the main characters, especially Briony, at the start of the novel. You get a real feel for their personalities and desires and this helps give gravitas to the tragic events that play out. I did watch the movie version several years ago and, surprisingly, this didn't ruin the book for me. To some extent, it actually made the novel better since all the events had an undercurrent of sadness to them as I read. I'm a romantic and a sucker for well written love stories:

"Nothing as singular or as important had happened since the day of his birth. She returned his gaze, struck by the sense of her own transformation, and overwhelmed by the beauty in a face which a lifetime's habit had taught her to ignore. She whispered his name with the deliberation of a child trying out the distinct sounds. When he replied with her name, it sounded like a new word - the syllables remained the same, the meaning was different. Finally he spoke the three simple words that no amount of bad art or bad faith can ever quite cheapen. She repeated them, with exactly the same emphasis on the second word, as if she had been the one to say them first. He had no religious belief, but it was impossible not to think of an invisible presence or witness in the room, and that these words spoken aloud were like signatures on an unseen contract” ...more

Well, that was depressing. Is Ian McEwan the natural successor to Thomas Hardy? I have to confess I knew nothing about Atonement except that the film adaptation came out a few years ago (if eight qualifies as a few). It did receive glowing reviews but did not pique my interest much, I filed it away in my head as “may be if it comes on telly”. However, I literally* stumbled on the audiobook on Youtube and decided to give it a listen (in numerous sessions as it is almost 6 hours long). The audiobWell, that was depressing. Is Ian McEwan the natural successor to Thomas Hardy? I have to confess I knew nothing about Atonement except that the film adaptation came out a few years ago (if eight qualifies as a few). It did receive glowing reviews but did not pique my interest much, I filed it away in my head as “may be if it comes on telly”. However, I literally* stumbled on the audiobook on Youtube and decided to give it a listen (in numerous sessions as it is almost 6 hours long). The audiobook is beautifully narrated by Isla Blair but it almost ruined the original book due to lack of chapters and parts indications that you get in most audiobooks. What this means is that it is read in one massive narrative lump without any clear divisions to indicate changes of scene, time periods, or switches in narrative points of view. These things can be figured out but it makes for a messy narrative, I will have to buy the printed book for a reread later. (The print version is clearly organized into chapters and major parts. I checked).

Any way, enough of the story filtered through to me to become intrigued. Here is a story about Briony, a thirteen year old girl who wrongly accused a man of raping her cousin, leading to his arrest and several years of imprisonment. As she grows into adulthood it begins to dawn on her that she may have been mistaken, by the age of eighteen she wants to actively set things right. Thanks to the confusing audiobook (dis)organization the story did not have much as an impact on me as it should have done. I was not able to empathize with the characters as I would need to do in order for the story to resonate. This is not Ian McEwan’s fault, the book is superbly written and the characters well drawn, it is more like a technical problem caused by the audiobook. Six hours seem like a long running time compared to movies but the book is 351 pages long and it would take me at least a week to read (allowing time for getting on with my life). Consequently I felt the book whizzed by me and I was just getting into end when it ends!

Still, I did find the storyline to be intriguing and book emotionally charged, especially in a poignant confrontation scene between the adult Briony and the wrongfully imprisoned Robbie Turner. Though I do find it a bit odd that a thirteen year old girl’s accusation carries so much weight given that the evidence against the man seems to be very circumstantial. The epilogue is quite the twist, very well played by McEwan. Had me reeling a little bit. So a great story somewhat spoiled (for me) by the confusing audiobook structure (not Ms. Isla Blair’s fault I suspect).

In all fairness I would rate it as follows:

4 stars for the book (could be 5 after a proper reread).2 stars for the audiobook (they removed book's structure of chapters and parts).5 stars for Isla Blair’s reading._________________________________

I was attracted to this book, because in the trailer there was Keira, wearing that stunning green dress. And because the soundtrack was impressive. It reminded me of my childhood, raised as a daughter of a hyperactive and workaholic journalist, the sound of typewriting machine was the sound that I was constantly surrounded with. Plus, I had something of Briony in my personality. Book wonder, and sneaking upon my older sister.

So I saw the movie, and because I didn’t have any clue what to expect,I was attracted to this book, because in the trailer there was Keira, wearing that stunning green dress. And because the soundtrack was impressive. It reminded me of my childhood, raised as a daughter of a hyperactive and workaholic journalist, the sound of typewriting machine was the sound that I was constantly surrounded with. Plus, I had something of Briony in my personality. Book wonder, and sneaking upon my older sister.

So I saw the movie, and because I didn’t have any clue what to expect, I cried for the next few days.

Atonement is the first book that made a huge impact in my twenties. I decided to read it because, I thought, no, honestly, if a movie is really that great, is it possible for a book to be even better?

Correct.

Most of the time during reading, I was utterly envious. I couldn’t believe that somebody – McEwan, actually had all those words in his vocabulary. He was talking about Briony and her aggressive attitude toward nettles for 20 pages – what a fantastic psychological mind game. And during those pages, I was biting my nails because my brain just couldn’t cope with his eloquence.

His symbols, sexual connotations, guilt as a wild angry animal that will torment you till the end – everything about this book is connected with human psyche and rotation consequences.

I know that Briony is just a kid, inspecting her childhood years on the edge crossing into adulthood, while dark and humming sounds of sexual deviations are coming to the surface during lazy summer nights, but at one point I just wanted to slap her. Mind your own business you spoiled and stupid child!

But I understand her. Perspectives change as everybody in this book inevitably change. Characters develop, as the narration develops.

There is no atonement. Just guilt, and they can’t apply - don’t look back.

It is just an amazing book, to put it mildly. Not enough words in my vocabulary. ...more

Ian McEwan was born on 21 June 1948 in Aldershot, England. He studied at the University of Sussex, where he received a BA degree in English Literature in 1970. He received his MA degree in English Literature at the University of East Anglia.

McEwan's works have earned him worldwide critical acclaim. He won the Somerset Maugham Award in 1976 for his first collection of short stories First Love, LastIan McEwan was born on 21 June 1948 in Aldershot, England. He studied at the University of Sussex, where he received a BA degree in English Literature in 1970. He received his MA degree in English Literature at the University of East Anglia.

McEwan's works have earned him worldwide critical acclaim. He won the Somerset Maugham Award in 1976 for his first collection of short stories First Love, Last Rites; the Whitbread Novel Award (1987) and the Prix Fémina Etranger (1993) for The Child in Time; and Germany's Shakespeare Prize in 1999. He has been shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize for Fiction numerous times, winning the award for Amsterdam in 1998. His novel Atonement received the WH Smith Literary Award (2002), National Book Critics' Circle Fiction Award (2003), Los Angeles Times Prize for Fiction (2003), and the Santiago Prize for the European Novel (2004). He was awarded a CBE in 2000. In 2006, he won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for his novel Saturday and his novel On Chesil Beach was named Galaxy Book of the Year at the 2008 British Book Awards where McEwan was also named Reader's Digest Author of the Year.

McEwan lives in London. His most recently published work is The Children Act (2014)....more

“It wasn't only wickedness and scheming that made people unhappy, it was confusion and misunderstanding; above all, it was the failure to grasp the simple truth that other people are as real as you.”
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